Lester Kobzik, Associate Professor of Pathology at HMS and Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Health at HSPH, will be the new director of the Physiology Program in the department. The former director of 13 years, HSPH Professor of Bioengineering and Physiology Jeffrey Fredberg, has announced that he will be stepping down from the role. He will remain at HSPH, focusing on research and training programs.
Fredberg "has been a tireless, enthusiastic supporter of the physiology faculty and fellows, while simultaneously creating a world-class research team focusing on bioengineering, lung biology, and cell motility," said Douglas Dockery, chair of the Department of Environmental Health.
Kobzik is a pulmonary pathologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He joined the Physiology Program two decades ago, and has been a faculty member at HSPH since 1986. He has been directing the Facility Core of the Harvard NIEHS Center as well as maintaining a research program. His interests center on the lung's defenses against inhaled particles and pathogens, including the role of lung macrophage scavenger receptors and the mechanisms by which environmental exposures diminish lung host defense.
"I am looking forward to working with Les to develop and maintain the current activities in Physiology and to develop initiatives," said Dockery.
In addition to the new directorship, the name of the program will be changing from Physiology Program to Molecular and Integrative Physiological Sciences.
Copyright, 2009, President and Fellows of Harvard College
